Style: Heavy/Power (Clean vocals)
Review by: Sam
Country: US-WA
Release date: 21-09-2018
NOTE: This album was originally included in the September 2018 issue of The Progressive Subway
Ghost Ship Octavius again (like Kingcrow) is a band that is probably too acclaimed already for this blog. Their previous self-titled debut album got a decent amount of hype for it and this one again has reviewers praising it everywhere. Yet for all the esteem on reviews I barely saw any discussion about them on prog forums. So hence went my justification of featuring them anyway.
Soo, now that is out of the way, what can I say about this band? To be honest, I really have no idea. The songs are average length, relatively straightforward in structure and it doesn’t really feel like this bands reaches any particular new heights. In fact their debut album sounded so unmemorable I had to listen to it again to remember what it sounded like. It’s a bit like recent Symphony X: riffy progressive power metal with a very manly sounding vocalist and a great guitarist. There was nothing particularly wrong with the debut, but somehow it failed completely to make an impact on me.
This new offering is a big improvement though. All the problems of the previous albums still apply, but they’re not as prominent anymore. First noticeable improvement are the vocals. They still sound very manly, but Adon Fanion now improved his range and he sounds fuller than before. Still not a versatile vocalist by any means, but he improved his style. It’s a bit like Mark Tremonti‘s growth as a vocalist on his solo project. This record in general is very reminiscent of the aforementioned band. You’ve got the hard riffs, the big melodic choruses and soaring guitar solos that made Tremonti so acclaimed, but then it’s in a prog power format instead of thrash-y hard rock.
And maybe that’s a bit where my problem is with this band. It’s marketed as progressive metal, yet it more plays like a “regular” metal album than anything else. You expect interesting proggy builds and flashy theatrics like time signature wizardry and impossible unison solos, but what you’re given are straightforward chorus-driven songs that only use the progressive aspects to add some sauce to their songs instead of it being the main ingredient of the dish. If you like good riffs and sing along choruses, this band is for you. If you want progressive metal with a capital P, this probably won’t do much.
Recommended tracks: Saturnine, Delirium, Far Below
Recommended for fans of: Nevermore, (modern) Symphony X, Savatage, Tremonti/Alter Bridge
Final verdict: 8/10
Related links: Spotify | Official Website | Facebook | Metal-Archives page
Label: Independent
Ghost Ship Octavius is:
– Adon Fanion (vocals, guitars, bass)
– Matt Wicklund (guitars, bass)
– Van Williams (drums)
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